Float....

Well, the freak has been busy doing everything but blogging it seems. Leather Retreat, TESFest, and now heading out to Floating World. Life has been good for me.

In the same time, I have seen two major clubs close down on the East coast; DFP, and my beloved Black Phoenix. Both are now slated to re-open after improvements have been made, but it is a sad state of affairs nonetheless. The sadness is compounded by the divisive bickering and drama that has surrounded these events. Other clubs and kink related businesses in NYC, including Purple Passions and Paddles are struggling. This week we have lost a major luminary of the community Jack McGeorge, whom I am sorry to say I never had the good fortune to meet. Life has been hard for many of us.

This weekend, at Floating World, more than 1200 of us will come together. There will be the celebration of a wedding. There will be a memorial service for the man our community has lost. Old friends will see each other again, new friends will be made. A safe space has been created for all of us to let our "freak flags fly" for a precious few days.

My wish for all of us: I hope that this time will be a time where we all strengthen our bonds to each other and come together in fellowship. Where we take the time to mentor and welcome the newcomers into the fold as well as celebrate our relationships to those known to us. Where we learn, teach, nurture, grow, love, fuck, remember, celebrate, and play, and play, and play some more.

Life is short. Drink deep.

Eric Swartz's [2004] protest song, "Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis"

I just could not resist this with Pride week coming up. Old but still completely relevant. Came to me off a tweet from Kate Bornstein.

Check out more about Eric at: http://www.ericschwartz.com/
Happy Pride!

NYC Kink-a-Go-Go

What a wild weekend of play is up this weekend in NYC. Suspension at China 1 at 9 PM tonight, LSM Panel on "Family Dynamics – Mommies, Daddies, Little Boys and Girls" at the GLBT Center at 8 PM and Switch at Paddles at 10:30 PM on Friday. TES Novice excursion at 9:30 PM at Chelsea Gallery Diner this Saturday, TES Sock Hops and Acid Trips party at 10:30 PM at Paddles this Saturday. NY Boys of Leather at Stonewall on Saturday night. Instigate on Sunday at 5:30 PM at the GLBT Center.

If you are bored this weekend, you are not easily amused.

News Flash... BP just may be perfect now.

They have added hot water and done significant expansions of the bathrooms at Black Phoenix. The place may just be perfect now.... :-) Heading off to enjoy Kinko de Mayo.

Beltane Ho

The freak is off to Free Spirit Alliance "Sacred Sexuality Beltane". Aw to heck with it... I'm going to camp... See ya'

Alphabet Soup

Come out to Alphabet Soup tonight. DTox - 31 2nd Ave between 1st and 2nd St. 7:00 PM and on. Last one rocked!

Black Phoenix NDD bootcamp.

The evolution of Philadelphia's Black Phoenix continued last weekend at Northern Delaware Ds' NDD Bootcamp II on April 24-25th. The Black Phoenix opened it's doors at the extremely reduced rate of 1$ for the day (plus a dish for the potluck) and an additional 5$ for a night of play. For another additional 5$ people were allowed to stay over. You can't even go see a movie for that price!

The day was wildly successful; with over 300 attendees. Master Steve and slave tami, the founders of NDDs, created an event filled with awesome educational opportunities, great food, and a chance to mingle with friends and make lots of new ones, in an amazing BDSM playground. With 25 classes on many topics, there were plenty of learning to be done. The presenters included Sarah Sloane, Jay Wiseman, Pyro-Sadist, Slutress Dottie, Zebrianna, and many others. Vendors and professional photography by PhotoPlay Photography were available. The food was incredible because it consisted of potluck donations from the 300 attendees (all of whom can apparently cook). It was quite obvious that Master Steve and tami and their platoon of volunteers knocked themselves out to organize a community event that will be remembered and talked about for some time to come.

The beauty of Black Phoenix is that with the second half of the space now open and the full 20,000 square feet in use, that many people can be there and it still does not feel crowded. Black Phoenix still has some work to do but it is clear that the team has not let up in their efforts towards reaching the full potential of the Black Phoenix. Definitely (still) worth a ride down from NYC and getting better all the time.